Fox & Shrine
by pseudocitrus
Summary: A wild fox wakes up in a land god's shrine. With nowhere to go, he decides to become a familiar.
1. Fox & First Day

notes:

+ no shipping or anything, i just felt like fiddling around with what happened after tomoe woke up from mikage's sealing off his curse

+ let me know if you find either story or grammar errors~

+ edited 3/13, for some fixes around the mikage side story...

+ & enjoy ^_^)

* * *

_Fox & First Day_

He realized sometime later that he was awake, and that the ceiling was made of pale wood striped with sunlight, much different than the crimson-tinted beams of the red light district. Neither was there the laughter and bustle of the tanuki women — instead, he heard birds chirping, wind rustling leaves, and (his ears flicked and swiveled behind him) something shuffling around nearby.

"Hey," he called out, and a pair of gasps answered.

"Oh! You're awake!"

Tomoe said up. The instant he did, his head swam, and he pressed a palm to his brow, squinched his eyes shut. His eyes felt sore. His clothing was gathered around his waist.

"Tomoe-dono — how are you feeling?" asked one of the voices in a chirp near his ear. Tomoe wrapped his claws in the speaker's collar and yanked its face close.

"Where —" Tomoe's voice was hoarse; he turned away to cough, then continued. "Where the _hell_ am I?"

"And," he added, narrowing his eyes, "what the hell are _you_?"

The whatever-it-was trembled in his grip and began to whimper from its one huge eye. "I — I —"

"That's enough. Leave my shrine spirits alone, Tomoe."

Tomoe's ears twitched as someone else approached. He relaxed his grip and the thing dropped out and scrambled away, joining another spirit taking sniffling refuse behind a pillar. They peeked out at him fearfully and Tomoe turned towards the entrant. A humble kimono — a strange fan made of petal shapes — short bright hair — a man.

No, not a man. Tomoe looked around, his surroundings slowly coming to clarity.

"So," he said finally. "How did I get to the shrine of a land god?"

"You were wounded," the god told him, cheerfully. He sat down beside Tomoe, followed by the shrine spirits and a butterfly that rested, picturesque, on his shoulder.

"Wounded," Tomoe echoed. His brow furrowed as he searched his mind. Wounded...by what? He touched his hand to his chest. That would explain the dull ache there, as if he had been stabbed.

"You wouldn't see the injury," the god told him, seeing Tomoe search for a scar. Tomoe scowled.

"Why not?"

The god thought for a moment, then smiled, faintly. "Let's just say it was a human woman's powerful magic."

A human woman? How could a human woman do anything to him? Tomoe flattened his ears. What had happened? What...

"By the way," the god interrupted, "my name is Mikage."

Tomoe didn't respond. He continued staring at his hands. Something felt wrong. Something...felt...missing.

"Are you feeling well?" the god asked. Tomoe frowned.

"Yeah..." He trailed off. Mikage watched him carefully, and adjusted his glasses. Though Mikage was sure that his memories of the human were gone, the fox's eyes still looked hazy and listless, dark with a shadow of grief.

He blinked and straightened when Tomoe turned to him.

"What do I owe you, god?" he asked, and Mikage gave him again the warm smile.

"Nothing."

"Nothing," Tomoe echoed. He looked away bewildered, both by this senseless altruism and the strange ache suddenly, a pressure from nowhere, at the sight of that easy smile, at the shine of kindness that Tomoe had done nothing to deserve. It reminded him of...

"Absolutely nothing," Mikage agreed. "And if you're feeling well, you're free to go."

Free to go. He stared away again across the room. He could go...where? To the tanuki women? It exhausted him just to think of the effort he'd have to expend to keep up with their flutter and cheer. He didn't want to see them. He didn't want to see anything.

"I don't have anywhere to go." It slipped out of his mouth, and he realized that it was true as he said it. He looked past the tattered screen doors, unable to come up with a single place or face that he might be happy to see.

"Well," the god said, "if there's nowhere for you to go, why don't you stay at my shrine?"

"Stay…?" The word in his mouth felt bitter. Was there even truly even such a thing as _staying_ — being somewhere, sharing someone's company, for longer than a blink of an eye? What did it matter when even a single day could set and never be had again?

"Yes, stay here, with me. I can be with you always," Mikage told him, and Tomoe looked at him, not hearing the strangeness of the statement but only _always_.

That's right. This was a god he was talking to. Gods didn't just fade from sight or wilt from cold. He rubbed his chest.

"That's it," Mikage decided, rapping his fan against his hand decisively. "From now on, you should stay here as a familiar of the shrine. The shrine spirits would be happy to have you, I'm sure."

Tomoe glanced at the spirit, who certainly didn't look that happy. He scowled at the god. "A familiar, me? A powerful demon, reduced to a god's servant?"

"An honor not many demons have, I agree," Mikage said brightly. "But I think you would be sufficient. "

"As if a demon like me could stay in such a stifling place," he muttered. There was the smell of humans everywhere, oppressive.

"It will be fine," Mikage told him. "Once you become a familiar, you can live here in ease."

In ease. Always. He looked back outside, tail drumming against the tatami. The world there seemed to reach toward him, vast, and chill, and empty. He had a vision of himself suddenly, wandering, no destination or direction, gathering burrs and mud on his robes and tail.

"Well? What do you think?"

If he left the shrine, he would be alone.

"Alright," Tomoe murmured, rubbing his chest. "I'll do it."

There was a sudden clap and cheering. Tomoe's ears pressed against his skull as the spirits began parading around the room with excited noises and flapping fans.

"Hurray! Our empty, falling-apart shrine finally has a familiar!" cried the big-eyed spirit. The other one pressed her hands to her eyes and appeared to weep.

"Oh, Mikage-sama, this is perfect! Finally the shrine has a proper familiar! Surely a fox can stand in for the dogs that Mikage-sama is so afraid of —"

Mikage laughed nervously. "It's not — that I'm not _afraid _of them — but, ah, I digress. Look here, Tomoe," he said, kneeling, and when Tomoe turned the god took his chin and kissed him lightly. Tomoe frowned and then looked down as two bright rings appeared over his wrists. When the light faded he felt its warmth sinking into his skin and dispersing across his veins. Suddenly the shrine around him changed — felt closer, warmer, as if it were leaning in to get a good look at him.

"Welcome, Tomoe!" Mikage exclaimed, waving his fan. "I'm glad you're here! Heavens know this shrine had been needing cleaning for decades. And finally," he said with a happy sigh, "the other gods will get off my back for not having a familiar."

"Great," Tomoe muttered dryly, taking in the ashy cobwebs and fraying tatami and prancing spirits. It may not be in utter ease, he thought, but at least this god could promise him his company for always. As one of the spirits tripped with a shriek and flutter of fans, he smirked, and didn't notice the pressure in his chest subside.


	2. Fox & Shrine Spirits

notes:

+ i had a lot of fun writing this...so...i hope you have a lot of fun reading ^_^

+ _tomoe-donoooooouuuuuuu!111_

* * *

_Fox & Shrine Spirits_

"Tomoe-dono! Your tea!" announced one of the spirits, and set the lacquered tray before him reverently. She knelt and began to pour tea from the pot into the cup. She faltered, struggling to keep the teapot upright with her right arm.

"I didn't ask for tea," Tomoe muttered finally, and she stiffened and looked at the other spirit. The tea overflowed onto the tray and she hastily set the pot down.

"Um, Tomoe-dono, but didn't you say last night that you wanted tea...? So we just thought...this morning..."

"You let it steep too long," Tomoe told her, inhaling from his pipe and turning away. "I'm not interested in drinking that sewage."

"O-oh...apologies, Tomoe-dono..."

"Neither of us, nor Mikage-sama, eat or drink much, so we didn't know..."

"Do you none of you know how to live in a house either?" Tomoe demanded. "This place is filthy!"

He waved his pipe across the room to indicate the dirt-stuffed tatami, the cobwebs, the corners gray with dust, the pools of water collecting from open spots on the roof where water was dripping from last night's rain, the breeze ruffling the torn ribbons of the paper screen doors. As Tomoe waved the pipe a bit of ash fell out onto the ground.

"W-well, Tomoe-dono, did you at least enjoy staying in your room last night? We were sure to clean it up for you..."

"That room," Tomoe said, wrinkling his nose, "smells like rats. I slept outside."

The spirits looked at each other and then fell on their knees simultaneously.

"We're s-sorry, Tomoe-dono —"

"Don't be sorry," he snapped, "just take away the tray, and _put it away_ instead of leaving it here," and the spirits rushed to comply. As the one with big lips touched the tray, the teapot's lid suddenly shook. The three of them watched as a cockroach shouldered its way out of the strainer, falling to the tray in a wet heap.

Tomoe's face darkened. "You...were going to serve me tea...with a _cockroach in it_? YOU ARE DISGUSTING!"

"Tomoe-dono, we didn't know!"

"Tomoe-donooo!"

The spirits squealed as Tomoe stood and threw the teapot into the forests around the shrine — but the cockroach had already escaped, and was zigzagging expertly around the room as Tomoe pursued it, stomping and cursing and gagging at the thought of almost having drank it. The spirits began pursuing the cockroach as well, with the result being that Tomoe kicked them aside as often as he missed the cockroach, and they yelped every time he did.

"Will you both — just get _out of the way_ —"

"What's going _on_ in here?" Mikage demanded, walking into the room. He was rubbing his eyes. The three of them looked up at him, and the cockroach took the opportunity to haul its body through a torn screen and tumble to safety. "Why all this commotion so early in the morning?"

"It is _not_ early in the morning," Tomoe growled. "In fact, it is hours _after_ you told me to be awake so you could discuss my duties as a familiar with me."

Mikage looked at him with confusion. Then smiled. "Oh, I think you're right."

"I _know_ I'm right! What kind of god are you, anyway?!"

"A busy, busy land god," Mikage answered gamely, and cleared a spot in the tatami dust for himself to sit, indicating that Tomoe sit as well. Tomoe did so, tail lashing with irritation. He lashed it more when he realized it was actually gray with dust. Then he held it in his lap, biting down on his pipe with annoyance.

Mikage sat serenely, holding a butterfly on his finger. "First things first, Tomoe. The role of familiar is an esteemed and honored role in this great shrine." He winced as a water droplet fell on his brow. Tomoe smirked over the pipe.

"Esteemed and honored, right. Will you get to the duties already?"

"Well, first," Mikage said, "I want you to get rid of that hideous kimono you're wearing."

"This," Tomoe told him indignantly, "is my best kimono," and Mikage looked at him with horror.

"In that case, get rid of all your other ones too."

Tomoe snorted and looked away, inhaling from his pipe. Mikage grimaced. Maybe having a wild fox as a familiar wasn't such a good idea. In his mind he saw how obedient were the familiars that other gods had...their lion-dogs with drooping ears and wet noses...he shuddered in disgust.

"Onikiri, Kotetsu," Mikage called out, "why don't you find the robes meant for the familiar of the shrine?"

"Yes, Mikage-sama!" They chimed out together, and they rushed off. They had completely forgotten about the tea tray and tripped on it when they returned.

"Great!" Mikage said warmly. "Now get him to wear it, somehow," and he stood up and started walking away, rubbing his brow.

"What?" Tomoe said angrily. "What about the duties?" He started after Mikage but when he turned the corner there was nothing but a butterfly trying to navigate its way out of the torn screen doors.

Tomoe stiffened. It felt suddenly like a boulder had dropped into the pit of his stomach. He spun around at the spirits.

"Where did he go?" he demanded. His voice was suddenly strained. The spirits looked at him fearfully.

"D-don't worry, Tomoe-dono, Mikage-sama leaves like that sometimes…"

"He's busy, you know…"

Tomoe took a deep breath. His heart was racing. Why did he feel so panicked? He returned to the main room and sat down shakily. The spirits raced around him, each one holding up one end of the robe up off the ground, careful not to let it touch.

"Mikage-sama will come back, Tomoe-dono, don't worry."

"Yes, don't worry, he'll be back soon."

"Who's worrying?" he snapped. "What do you think I am, a common dog?" and they cringed away from him and looked at each other with wringing hands.

"You know, Tomoe-dono," said one of the spirits cautiously, "I bet Mikage-sama would be happy to return and see you wearing these."

They held out the robes again. He eyed them. It _was_ very fine clothing. Tomoe inhaled through his pipe and exhaled slowly, reaching out to touch the white fabric, the brocade with faint patterns that glistened in the light. The fabric was dense, sturdier still than the robes he wore now, and cleaner too. He realized that he would be happy to wear it. If the god hadn't been do adamant that he should.

The spirits were looking at him, eyes glistening with hope.

"No thanks," Tomoe told them, and stood and fled before they could pursue him, taking refuge in the shady boughs above the shrine. He reached for a leaf and placed it on his head to make himself take on the appearance of a branch, and settled into the shadows of the boughs near the gate and observed in amusement as the spirits continued running about in circles, hefting the kimono carefully between them so that it wouldn't touch the ground.

"Tomoe-donooooo!"

"Tomoe-dono, please come back!"

"Tomoe-dono, where are youuuu?"

Irritating. Tomoe found a branch that could support his body and leaned back. From here he had a good view of the shrine and would be able to see clearly when Mikage returned. What was with that god, anyway? Hadn't he just been saying that he would stay always…?

No, what was he thinking? Tomoe shook his head. Maybe being a familiar was beginning to affect him adversely. And he certainly wasn't completely healed yet from…

From…

…He rubbed his chest. Furthermore, dealing with those idiotic spirits and this filthy shrine was taking a toll on him. Exhaustion tugged at his body. His eyelids began to droop.

When he woke up, it was night. He straightened with a start — was Mikage back? — but he could tell without even looking, somehow, that the shrine still lacked its god.

Approaching the shrine, however, were the two spirits, looking exhausted. They no longer had the kimono, but they were still stumbling around. Exhausted from running around all day? They collapsed into the porch. The one with the lips was holding her arm. Suddenly he recalled how she had struggled with the teapot. Had she been hurt somehow?

Like it was any of his concern. His ears pricked up as the spirits began to speak.

"Maybe Tomoe-dono left for good," she said miserably, and the other one put his head in his hands.

"What are we going to tell Mikage-sama?"

"Maybe we can find another fox," she suggested. They looked at each other and then shuddered simultaneously.

"No, no, one fox is enough..."

"I think he would notice if we found a fox that was not Tomoe-dono..."

Like hell he would notice!

"It must be hard for a wild fox to adjust. After all, Tomoe-dono came to the shrine in such a poor state…and we can't even serve him any food or tea…"

"What do foxes like to eat?"

"Knotroot? Or maybe, snakes…"

"What about the organs? Snake livers…?"

"Let's just try the tea again," said the big-eyed spirit, and the other nodded fervently. "Yes! Let's — but, oh…the teapot is…"

They glanced out into the dark forest where Tomoe had thrown the teapot, swallowing.

"Didn't we have a couple of them?"

"No, they were stolen…"

Stolen? Tomoe's brows furrowed. What could steal from a god's shrine?

"But…it should be fine, right?" continued the spirit.

"Right! It can't have gone too far!"

"Right! Let's go! I'm sure once Tomoe-dono smells the tea, he will immediately come back!"

They raced off. As soon as they were gone Tomoe dropped down from the tree, and started approaching the shrine. It was empty still, just as he had felt. He walked toward the shrine and sat down on the porch, ears low. His robes fell on the old boards. They were tattered and stained; the fire designs were dull.

Maybe if he wore the familiar's robes Mikage would come back. Gods had an other sense, didn't they? Furthermore, Mikage had healed him without fuss and invited him into the shrine as a familiar, so the least he could do was go along with this silly dress-up game.

He stood, and inhaled deeply, and sighed.

And then inhaled again. What…was _that_? It smelled like…

The hairs on his nape rose and he ran into the shrine. It took him only a moment to fling aside the door to his designated room, though he was overzealous and ripped it from its frame. He held out his hand and a foxfire burst from it, illuminating the room —

— which was filled with _rats_. They had frozen at the crash of the door and the light and stared at him with gleaming eyes.

"What," he demanded, "the _hell —" _But before he could finish they leaped at him. He shouted and maneuvered the foxfire; they shrieked and fell to the ground, not dead but fleeing with nothing more than scorched rumps. Rat demons, then. He knew them to lay waste to temples, but they were nothing more than an annoyance.

And then he saw that some of them were making away with something white.

_The familiar's robes._

"HEY!" he yelled, "GET BACK HERE," and burned a swath through the mass of them. They had clearly never dealt with a demon of his caliber and many were fleeing, but not the ones carrying the robes; they squeezed through the screen, and Tomoe snatched at the robes but just missed them. In fury he burst the screen door apart with fire and continued racing after them into the forest, throwing foxfire after them. But they were too separated out for him to hit effectively, and in horror he watched as they split up even further — tearing the robes between them.

"You — _you —!"_

He roared and leaped at them with claws outstretched, but they were nimble, and he landed face first into a rotting log that collapsed and piled damp splinters into his hair.

"_Augh!_" He straightened as soon as possible. His long hair was tangled in the bark and he smashed it further out of frustration. When he was finally free, the rats were gone. He huffed and his ears twisted around and around, trying to hear where they had gone.

Deeper in the forest was a scream.

:::

"Tomoe-dono! _Tomoe-donoooo!"_

"Tomoe-dono, save us!"

"Shut up already," said one of the rats, "or I'll take a bite out of your other arm," and the spirit silenced herself, gripping her left arm fearfully. She glanced around, but there was still no escape — the rats had surrounded them effectively, and seemed adamant that they extract revenge on the spirits for having chased them from Tomoe's room. Their teeth gnashed and took nips at their ankles and they held each other tightly.

"You better let us go," one of the spirits tried again, steeling himself, "or else the great familiar of the Mikage Shrine will rip you into pieces!"

"Is that who you're calling? The 'familiar' of your shrine?" snickered one of the rats, and the spirits quailed again as the swarm of rats loomed over them. "Stop lying. We know your shrine hasn't had a familiar in years."

"We have a familiar now! A great wild fox demon named Tomoe! And when he comes, he'll —"

"_Tomoe_?"

The rats began to laugh uproariously.

"_Tomoe_, _the wild fox? _A _familiar_?"

"Who knew that simple shrine spirits had such humor," a rat near them hissed. "Don't worry, spirits. We have enough from your shrine now that we don't need to be there anymore. Nor do we need _you_," and he showed his fangs.

"N-no! Don't you dare! Tomoe-dono will have his revenge on you if you hurt us —"

"Right, the familiar, Tomoe. It's too late, spirits. Now your lies are exposed," he said, smiling broadly into the distance, and the spirits looked in alarm as more rats came in, carrying the torn shreds of…

"Oh no!"

"Not the familiar's robes —"

But they couldn't mistake the once-whiteness of the clothing. They reached out for the robes but the rats held them out of reach, began to press their cheeks against the fabric.

"Ohh, this is so soft —"

"How nice, how nice, even in our time in the shrine, we never saw anyone take out something like this —"

But the rats that had come in were panting. "No, don't stop here —"

"We must flee —"

"Hurry, grab the robes and flee!"

"Yes," came a deep snarl, "flee, flee into my mouth, little rats. Save me the trouble of skinning you and eating you one by one," and the rats all froze as a figure with hair white as moonlight appeared in their midst like a phantom. The rats froze.

"Tomoe," the rats gasped. "It's — it's really —"

"Tomoe-dono!" the spirits cried with relief, and then, "_Tomoe-dono!_" with horror as the rats all leaped at the fox at once, covering him instantly with their bodies. Tomoe crumpled beneath them, and the spirits shrieked and then continued shrieking as they were scooped up from the ground.

"Quiet down already!" Tomoe snapped, "it's just an illusion," and indeed the rats were all scrabbling and biting each other out of confusion on a bed of dry leaves. Tomoe waited for them to realize their mistake, to look back at him and realize that they were all gathered together in one mass: a nice rat pile perfect for a bonfire. Their panic reflected back in the light of the foxfire growing in his palm.

He smiled.

"All of you," he told them, "smell _hideous_," and he chucked the flame at them furiously.

The size and power of the foxfire was such that it should have left nothing but a smoking pit behind, but he saw that he had only managed to scorch a clearing into the forest, and that not even of great size. Furthermore, he could still see rats squeaking and running off to safety, some of them awkwardly holding their rumps as they ran. He looked down at his hand with bewilderment. Maybe his power was still recovering from the injury?

"Tomoe-donoooo!"

"Tomoe-donoooo!"

He stumbled back as the spirits, who he had still been holding, yelled in his ear and began to clutch him tightly.

"Tomoe-dono, you're such a powerful familiar — you showed those rats — thank goodness that you came!"

"We knew you would come for us —"

"Yeah," Tomoe muttered, "but too late," and he looked down at the tatters of familiar's robes on the ground, ears dropping.

"I suppose," he said after a moment, "I'm not much of a familiar," and when the spirits uncharacteristically said nothing he glanced at them.

Tears were pouring down their faces.

"Oh, Tomoe-dono —"

"Somehow — somehow I feel so full of sympathy —"

"Don't worry, Tomoe-dono, we can fix those robes good as new!"

"And we retrieved the teapot" — the spirit held up the small green pot, slightly chipped but still serviceable — "so we can make you some tea. If…if you'd like some?"

"Yeah…okay."

"Then, let's go home!"

Home. He smiled, faintly. "Let's pick up the pieces of the robe first."

"Right!"

They separated out into the clearing. Luckily the robe had not been torn up into too many pieces, and, even more luckily, the majority of them were not charred by the foxfire.

"Onikiri," Tomoe called out after a while, "Kotetsu — come on, I think we have the majority of the pieces already," and the spirits returned. For some reason they were weeping again, dabbing at their eyes with the torn scraps of the robes.

"What?" he said, frowning. "What's happened? Is the robe not fixable after all?"

"No, it's just…"

"It's just that this is the first time that Tomoe-dono…has ever called us by name…"

"Tomoe-dono!" they cried happily, and he spent the whole walk back batting them off his robes.

:::

When Mikage returned, a quarter of the shrine was burned down, the forests surrounding one side were charred black, the ground was littered with broken teacups, and Tomoe was sitting on the porch, hair tangled with twigs and wearing a mass of rags. Mikage stared in cold shock.

"Welcome back, Mikage," Tomoe said brightly. His tail wagged, straining the rags, and as Mikage watched, one of Tomoe's sleeves fell off. Onikiri and Kotetsu hastily pushed it back up to his shoulder.

Mikage covered his mouth with his fan.

"Those are the familiar's robes, aren't they."

"Well…yes. What happened is…complicated…"

Mikage rubbed his brow.

"But," Tomoe said cheerfully, "there are no more rats in the shrine."

"And no cockroaches either," added Onikiri.

"And also no more tea," Kotetsu said, upending his cup.

"That's…great," Mikage said, voice strained. He attempted a smile but instead collapsed on the porch, which was partly charred and crumpled beneath his weight. He stayed there, surrounded by the ashen planks, clutching his hair inconsolably, until Tomoe demolished more of the porch to get him out.


End file.
